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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26274223">safe and sound</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyofdecember/pseuds/ladyofdecember'>ladyofdecember</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Big Bang Theory (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Coronavirus, Established Relationship, Fix-It, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Quarantine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:01:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,206</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26274223</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyofdecember/pseuds/ladyofdecember</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Six months. It had been six months since the quarantine had started with cases of the coronavirus spiking around the country and around the world.</p><p>Leonard had been at home on lockdown for six months and he was quite certain he was starting to lose it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sheldon Cooper/Leonard Hofstadter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>119</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>safe and sound</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Wow. So who would have thought I'd be returning to this fandom after so long? I used to be in love with this show, looking forward to watching it every week and so very obsessed with this pairing. And then as the show progressed I got less and less excited about it as I feel it took a downturn for the worst. However, the great thing about fandom is you can write your own wishes and desires! You can literally change the story! So that's what I've decided to do. I've come back to the fandom with all my ideas ready to go.</p><p>This is just a fun little fluff piece that's kind of cathartic for me since during this whole pandemic I've been highly anxious, cut off from the world and on lockdown. I wanted to write something cute to try to help myself and others feel a little bit better about it all. I hope you all enjoy.</p><p>Some headcanons I have:<br/>Sheldon and Leonard began dating around season five of the show. Penny and Leonard broke up and she moved back to Nebraska. Amy and Sheldon never happened. Sheldon and Leonard been working from home since the start of the pandemic and are in an established relationship.</p><p>"Don't you dare look out your window, darling everything's on fire<br/>The war outside our door keeps raging on<br/>Hold onto this lullaby even when the musics gone, gone"<br/>Safe and sound by Taylor Swift</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Six months. It had been six months since the quarantine had started with cases of the coronavirus spiking around the country and around the world.</p><p>Leonard had been at home on lockdown for six months and he was quite certain he was starting to lose it.</p><p>Taking a deep breath in and out through his nose, he removed his glasses to rub gently at his eyes beneath them. Staring at his laptop screen for so long was really starting to give him a headache. Replacing his glasses, Leonard pushed back in his chair from his desk and made his way to the kitchen to get a snack.</p><p>It wasn't all bad he supposed. He wasn't sick, no one he knew intimately had gotten sick although he had heard of some cases at the University. And it wasn't like he'd spent the entire six months holed up in their apartment. He'd been going out once a week for groceries although the trips had been less than pleasant. </p><p>And that was all thanks to one Sheldon Cooper.</p><p>As Leonard perused their fridge looking for something to eat, Sheldon made his way down the hall and around the corner to join him.</p><p>“Hey.” The curly haired man said, his eyes not leaving the shelves before him.</p><p>“Will you quit that? You're letting out all of the cold air.” Sheldon complained, moving to search for the disinfectant spray they stored beneath the sink. “And what are you looking for? It's not dinner time yet and if you eat an unscheduled snack we'll end up short on food and have to make an unscheduled trip to the store again!”</p><p>Shutting the fridge, Leonard turned to look at his boyfriend with an amused expression on his face. “Oh no, whatever will we do?”</p><p>Sheldon glared at him from his position crouched down on the floor as he began removing several bottles of cleaning agents from out of the cabinet at an alarming rate.</p><p>“Oh god, what are you doing now?”</p><p>“I'm looking for the aerosol spray. I opened the window in my office to get a fly out and now I have to douse the entire room!”</p><p>Leonard shook his head in disbelief and began making the two of them cups of tea. “You're being ridiculous.”</p><p>“Oh, am I, Leonard? Or am I being safe and sane?”</p><p>Glancing back at him and the wild look in his eyes, he chuckled in response but said nothing.</p><p>“Aha! Got it!” Sheldon retrieved the bottle and marched back down the hall to his old room to disinfect the air.</p><p>Leonard finished making a cup for each of them and wandered over to the couch, setting them on the coffee table. Quickly checking his laptop for any new emails or messages from his boss at the university, he headed back over to the couch to enjoy his tea.</p><p>Sheldon returned a minute later to put away all the cleansers back beneath the sink.</p><p>“Will you come over here and relax?” Leonard said as he watched the man wearily. He was used to his anxiety, his out of control worries sometimes getting the best of him. And he knew it was in those moments when what the man needed most was to relax and regain his calm and composure.</p><p>Venturing over to the couch, Sheldon sank down into his seat next to Leonard and gratefully accepted the mug of tea he'd made for him. “Well, thank you, Leonard. How thoughtful.”</p><p>“I know you're still really worried about all of this but it's going to be alright, really. We've been really safe, we've barely gone out anywhere. We're working from home, we're not even going in the grocery store really. We've been doing curbside pickup.”</p><p>Glancing at his boyfriend beside him, the physicist couldn't help but agree they had taken nearly every precaution they could to avoid getting sick. Perhaps, he was getting carried away again. Leonard was good at noticing that and helping him. And after being together for so long, for living together for so many, many years, he'd like to think he had finally learned to listen to the man's better judgment now and then. </p><p>“You're right, Leonard.”</p><p>And so, he sat back against the couch and sipped at his tea. Leonard was watching him carefully and after a moment, he eyed him back cautiously. “What?”</p><p>The bespectacled man laughed and adjusted his glasses. “Nothing.”</p><p>“What, Leonard?”</p><p>“It's just... “ The man sat forward to deposit his mug on the table before shifting a little closer to his boyfriend. “I really love you, you know that?”</p><p>Sheldon squinted at the man, looking for any evidence of an ulterior motive. “Mmhmm... ?”</p><p>“I do, dummy.” Leonard laughed, leaning his arm along the backside of the couch as he looked at him. “I just... you'd think not going anywhere or seeing anyone for so long would really bug me but it just... it hasn't.”</p><p>Sipping at his tea gingerly, the lankier man nodded along in agreement.</p><p>“Well, okay, so maybe I'd like to go to the comics shop or go see a movie that's not in our apartment but... I'm okay, I think. Really. You make it bearable.” Leonard reached out his arm to gently touch the back of the man's neck and smiled.</p><p>Sheldon set his tea down on the table beside him and turned to lean into the touch. His eyes traveled down towards his lap as he quietly responded, “Leonard, you make life more than bearable for me.” He met his eyes once more in a steady gaze. “You make life worth living. I know I'm not the easiest to live with or get along with or well, date, and I know that you have a lot of other options and I guess I'm just surprised that you'd be willing to spend a quarantine with someone like me.”</p><p>Leonard couldn't help the chuckle that escaped from his lips. He quickly moved to scoot closer to the man and wrap his arms around him fully. “Sheldon, you can't honestly be surprised. We've been together for five years now, we've known each other for, what, eons now? I don't even know! But the one thing I do know is, as batshit crazy as you make me, the last thing I'd wanna do is be away from you, especially right now.”</p><p>A steady set of beeps erupted from the man's laptop over on the desk, alerting the two to how long they'd been sitting together. </p><p>“That's your computer. I'm guessing you need to get back to work.” Sheldon said, staring quietly at the man.</p><p>“Yeah, but they can wait.” Leonard smiled and quickly leaned in to kiss the man deeply from their spots on the couch.</p><p>After they pulled away, Sheldon smiled at the man happily. “Okay, Leonard, you can have one unscheduled snack today. But tomorrow, I'll have to dock you one.”</p><p>Laughing at his boyfriend, Leonard headed back over to his computer with his tea to get back to work.</p><p>He watched as Sheldon too made his way back down the hall to do his own work and wondered just how he'd gotten so lucky to find a best friend and a partner as interesting as him.</p>
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